I think that this sort of shit is much easier to pull off out in the suburbs, like Cobb County or Landover. The Rogers Centre location, right in the downtown area, means that any effort to ban private parking lots near the stadium would run headlong into downtown business interests and the parking needs of a large city. Same here in San Diego.
And of course as soon as you post this, the Tigers spank the Indians 12-2.
After his 3 of 5 hitting day including a 3-run homer, Nick Castellanos (maybe) said “We were extra motivated by that poster on the SDMB calling us out.”
The people of Detroit have had a rough few years. The Indians just wanted to give a little. Some things are bigger than baseball, ya know?
Oakland has direct access to a rapid transit stadium built right next door. LOTS of people take BART to the stadium.
San Francisco has MUNI rapid transit stops right outside the gates of the stadium. Driving to get there is hell, anyway. Of course, driving anywhere in San Francisco is hell.
Seattle has the right idea too. You can shuttle right to Safeco from all over the metro area, and after the last out there are about a zillion busses lined up outside the outfield gates. We always drove down to the Northgate mall and took public transit from there.
Sad, but this is completely of a piece with the new stadium complex location and design. Everything about the project is intended to capture every possible dollar of the economic activity generated by games and other events, at the expense of every virtue of connectivity between a ballpark and a community.
It’ll be interesting to see how this works out for the Braves. Atlanta is a notoriously fickle sports town, filled with transplants. But they’re building in the suburbs, which may attract people who wouldn’t go to a game in the city because of traffic or suburbanites who don’t like to visit the ‘scary’ city.
To me, the whole thing reeks of yet another case of a billionaire getting what they want at the expense of taxpayers. At least the Marlins went from a football stadium surrounded by nothing to a location in the actual city of Miami.
Where will the Braves move in 5 years when their total attendance for that period never cracks 50?
It’s definitely in the opposite direction of where most teams are going. Almost all new stadium construction since SkyDome, which really started the boom, has been towards “let’s put the team right downtown, that would be awesome.” I actually cannot think of any exceptions, unless you count Tropicana Field, which was built long before the Rays existed. (I am open to being corrected on this point.) The suburban stadium was, everyone agreed, no longer a suitable business option.
I remember visiting Miller Park and thinking “man, this seems really far from downtown for a modern park.” And by modern standards it really is - but it is in fact in the city of Milwaukee, less than five miles from City Hall. That’s how downtown modern parks are. Do a Google Maps search and just map from the ballpark to the name of the city (which usually pegs the recognized city center or City Hall) and it’s rarely more than two miles. Yankee Stadium and Citi Field are actually two of the further by this measure but of course they’re centred in their boroughs.
Having said that, I would have to presume the Braves know what they’re doing. Maybe Atlanta is different.
RickJay:
The Ballpark in Arlington? Granted, Arlington is where the Rangers have always played (since moving from Washington, all right, wise guys?), but it was built a) after SkyDome, and b) is not in downtown Dallas or Fort Worth.
All of the teams in the hunt for the wild card in the AL are playing at least decently right now - all 6 teams at least 5-5 in their last ten. It’s a little frustrating as a fan of one of the teams in the chase position.
See, I knew I’d miss one.
It does raise the question as to what city, if any one city, Texas represents.
Houston, obviously. 
Cubs delayed 90 minutes towards the end of a very long stretch of games, no day off since June 16. Today was supposed to be a day off but it’s a make up game against the Braves who are in town to face the White Sox over the weekend. Cubs have to fly to Pittsburgh after tonight’s game, but at least it’s a night game. A pretty brutal stretch of games without a day off and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Cubs player or two skip the all star game.
Enron Field is the best ballpark ever!
Buster Posey is so talented, he threw the ball into Jake Peavey’s glove without Peavey actually seeing it.
That whole game was bizarre. Angel Pagan was spiked in the head. Javier Lopez tripped leaving the dugout to run to the bullpen and just lay out on his back. The ball bounced off the Arizona third baseman’s shoulder when he lost it in the sun. A fan had just come back from getting food and tried to catch a foul ball with the box full of food, spraying nacho cheese and beer everywhere.
Having dinner with my sister-in-law tonight, and I turned on ESPN for the Giants game.
SIL: How are the Giants doing this year?
Me: Best record in baseball!
SIL: Are they in first place?
Me: :rolleyes: No, they’re a game behind the team with the Super-Best record in baseball. Uh-huh.
[Rant]
Okay, Angel Pagan, pick a pronunciation and be consistent. It’s either “Ayn-gel Pay-gan,” or “On-hel Puh-gone.” It irks me to use a Latino pronunciation of one name, but not the other.
[/rant]
“He-e-re’s your sign.”